This season is over. When the Yankees signed Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran in the offseason, I didn’t think they would be this bad offensively. I don’t even have to look at the stats to see the Yankees are probably the worst offensive team in the AL. The pitching has usually done its part but other than Masahiro Tanaka, Dellin Betances, David Robertson and maybe even Shane Greene, I don’t see anyone staying long term. You might be telling yourself, “Well they can get pitchers from their farm system.”

That’s a possibility and a minuscule one at that. Whatever good pitching the Yankees have had in the farm system has either flopped, been traded away or been let go for their own good because of that poor excuse for a stadium the Yankees play in. Tons of home runs are hit to the short porch in right field that should NEVER be home runs. In fact, they wouldn’t be home runs anywhere else. What is this, Little League? Phil Hughes was and is a much better pitcher than Yankee Stadium (the new one) made him look.

And then you look at the atmosphere of the place. I’ve been there and it felt like I was in a funeral. And the game was very close but the atmosphere wasn’t there. It was almost as bad watching PLAYOFF games ON TV. That atmosphere at Yankee Stadium during the 2012 postseason was as dead as can be. It’s one of the things I might never forget because the Yankees haven’t made the playoffs since. They didn’t last year, they won’t this year and it looks like there will be a long period of time in the future where they might become the AL’s Mets.

At least the Mets can build their own players. The Yankees need to use free agency because of how lazy they have gotten with their farm system. It’s embarrassing. It’s uncomfortable for me as a longtime fan to admit it but I don’t like the way the Yankees build their teams. I don’t like the narrative. Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Williams, Cano, etc. That’s what I like. McCann coming from Atlanta, Ellsbury, coming from Boston, etc.

Ugh.

You might as well call them the New York Mercenaries. It’s very hard for me to continue caring about a team like that. Maybe they should just tear it all down and start over. Be the Houston Astros. Be the Chicago Cubs. Have an actually inspired way of building a team for once.

It’s obsolete. You can thank Lance Armstrong for that. What good is it to test for HGH in the NFL with how much of a joke their drug policy has been? “Mr. Manning, we will test you for HGH next year on August 12 at 12:00 p.m.”

Ryan Braun would pass that test.

I hate to take on a Roman Emperor’s attitude to the issue but I just want quality entertainment. These players are grown men. They know the short-term and the long-term that comes with anything they put in their bodies. I can’t imagine someone playing a sport like football and not using SOMETHING. The money is BIG, even for someone on the practice squad.

The NFL can drug-test all they want. I doubt they’re gonna take it as seriously as the MLB. If they did, there wouldn’t be any NFL. A 6’3″ 300-pound guy that runs a 4.5 40-yd dash. That’s as incredible as it is disturbing. You couldn’t find many players like that in the past but it seems teams will breed more players who fit that archetype. Again, the idea of the NFL breeding bigger, stronger and faster players is a disturbing concept but one that would play out well on TV regardless.

I wish John Cena was consistently as ruthless as he was tonight. Those German suplexes to Bray Wyatt were a nice touch from the 16 he took at Summerslam. And don’t even get me started on his clotheslines. For once, he’s doing something in the ring the way it should be done. Look at those AAs. Look at those STFs. Look at how he sells during and after a match.

I was one of those people that didn’t want this match between Cena and Wyatt to happen. Wyatt was a star on the rise until he was in a feud with Cena. Then we know what happened. Cena’s the man that doesn’t give up – him staying down for a 10 count would’ve been a contradiction to his character. It would’ve been a contradiction his kiddie fans weren’t going to deal with.

So that was that. Wyatt has been irrelevant ever since. I wrote an article about Jericho’s return as something WWE only did to keep Wyatt relevant. It didn’t work. Their feud had no heat whatsoever with the crowd. Just why were they even feuding? Even in kayfabe, there was never a real explanation for that.

But that was then. Wyatt’s not in the title picture but Cena is… against BROCK LESNAR. Wyatt is not in any interesting feuds at the moment. He probably won’t be anytime soon. Cena on the other hand is going to be in the main event of Night of Champions. See the difference?

As many gamers know, Madden is currently the only NFL game out there. There’s no new NFL 2K and there will probably never be again – EA can pay the NFL to renew the exclusive contract they have had since Madden 06. Many fans are crying for the days of NFL 2K5, when the game cost $20 and the presentation and gameplay were off the charts. If that’s the case, I don’t see why you someone wouldn’t have the game and update rosters like this:

Instead of suggesting that the complainers are… complaining, I have a solution for them out there.

Now I recently heard someone suggest the idea of EA making Madden every 3 years, instead of churning it out like it’s Call of Duty. In theory, that sounds great until you realize how much less money EA would be making from that. No sensible person can possibly suggest something like that. What was even worse was the idea that EA charges a “fee” for the roster updates in the years they weren’t coming up with a new Madden. For fans, this would be a dream but EA would never pull through with it. They made $60 million in sales from Madden 25 in the FIRST week. And this is a game many claimed to be the carbon copy of Madden 13, which made even MORE money in the first week.

I said in my previous post that Bray Wyatt has jumped the shark as a character. That may still be true but what happened today may throw a dent in that. Chris Jericho, who hasn’t been seen in WWE in over a year, made an appearance. Long story short, the Wyatt Family attacked him. Erick Rowan rammed him into the corner before pushing him into a vicious big boot from Luke Harper. Bray left him laying with a Sister Abigail.

The promos that these two (Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatt) can cut make me very optimistic about this feud. Jericho’s probably coming back just to elevate Wyatt (who clearly needs it) because it’s not like he hasn’t done everything there’s to do in the WWE.

That may be the issue. Jericho has lost to the likes of JTG, Ryback and Fandango CLEANLY. These are under-carders. Their wins over Jericho haven’t exactly made them big stars. JTG stayed JTG. Ryback was turned into a heel punching bag for the great CM Punk. Fandango got injured and hasn’t really been the same.

I could see Bray feuding with Dean Ambrose down the line and I’m sure that would be a great feud with legendary promos. But that’s a future that may never happen. Right now, Jericho seems to be the guy that’s just here to salvage Wyatt.

Last night, John Cena became a 15-time World Champ. He won like it was nothing. He no-sold the whole match but that’s another story. It’s not the first time this happened.

Since Cena was the winner, I’m here to talk about the loser of the ladder match yesterday – Bray Wyatt. Spare me the lecture about how it was a ladder match and nobody’s ever a clear cut loser. A few months ago, I saw Wyatt as someone who was gaining a lot of momentum. He was going to be in a program with John Cena. He was going to have a match with him at Wrestlemania and he was going to win. Then reality hit me.

He didn’t need that win. His “legacy” would’ve been secure without it.

Then Wyatt started singing in every promo. It was sleep-inducing if you didn’t change the channel. I didn’t expect it to play a big role in the buildup to the Extreme Rules match with Cena but it did. There was an opening segment the go-home RAW with a bunch of kids singing “He’s got the whole world.” I swear that had to be some of the 10 worst moments I’ve ever seen on TV. This wasn’t “so bad it’s good.” This was cringe-worthy bad. Then the match happened at the PPV. It was the biggest disappointment on the show. The ending involved a little kid scaring Cena because Rowan, Harper and Wyatt apparently couldn’t do that themselves. It made the whole stable look weak.

Cena was obviously going to win the Last Man Standing match at the next PPV. If Wyatt didn’t win the briefcase or the title at Money in the Bank, he was done. And here we are today. He has neither. He has no more interesting faces to feud with and it doesn’t even look like he’s in the title picture. Alberto Del Rio symbolically super-kicked him out of the match yesterday. He has jumped the shark as a character.

I’ve seen many shoots by Jim Cornette where he talks about Vince Russo. It’s an obsession. It still hasn’t stopped to this day.

Russo was on Stone Cold’s podcast today and he told a story that made me think. Bruce Prichard had gone to WCW so now Creative was just Vince McMahon, Russo and Cornette. Cornette sounds like he’s stuck in the 80s – the era of the territories. Russo, from his booking, was apparently the type who always wanted to try something new. He’s a visionary in ways that Cornette never was. Russo told this story about how him and Cornette would always argue and it would take time away from writing the show. Then he says he went to Vince and basically asked him to choose between him and Cornette.

The next time Russo met with McMahon, Cornette was nowhere to be found. That was a win for Russo and certainly a win for the fans. People were bored of the crap Cornette had taken a part in writing.

Cornette was phased out for Russo and it still irks him to this day. There’s nothing in particular that Russo did. It’s just one of those “I don’t like him” situations. And the “why” that would explain that situation has already been answered. Russo will be remembered for not only the negatives but a lot of the positive stuff he contributed to the edgiest era in wrestling. Cornette may have been a good manager for tag teams in the 80s but outside of that, he’s a footnote. His Smokey Mountain Wrestling promotion didn’t last more than 3 years. His ideas on wrestling have been said to be antiquated by people from Shawn Michaels to Kevin Steen. He has been fired by every promotion he has worked for – look at the common denominator. His stubborn ways may make people respect him but the fact is nobody wants to do business with him.

You know, it’s easy to be too entertained by his shoot interviews to see the jealousy but give it time and you will.